John e



(No Model.)

J. E. BAKER,

SIGNAL APPARATUS.

Patented July 26, 1887.

1 NV ENTEIH.

WI TNEsaas.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. BAKER, or New YORK, N. Y.

SIGNAL APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 367,019, dated July 26, 1887.

Application filed February 23, 1887. Serial No. 228,618. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN E. BAKER, of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Signaling Apparatus; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of rel'er ence marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to the apparatus used for operating semaphore and other signals, and is intended to secure greater certainty in action by obviating the bad effects of expansion and contraction caused by changes in the temperature, and also from slack produced by stretching of the operating-line, both of which effects are in lines of much extent multiplied to such a degree as to seriously interfere with their certainty of operation.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows an elevation of the operating apparatus and a signal. Fig. 2 is an elevation, enlarged, of the operating apparatus, showing a slight modification.

A is the signal-standard, which has an arm, 0, pivotedto it near the top. A lever, e, is secured to the lower part of the standard A by means of a bracketnnd pin, on which the lever is free to swing. An adjustable weight is placed on the longer end of the lever c, and rod 10, attached near the middle of the'lever, connects it to a crank-arm, Z, on the pivot of the arm 0. The line t, which may be of either wire, chain, or other suitable material, is connected to the short end of the lever e and carried down under the pulley D, attached to the lower part of the standard A, and from thence to the operating mechanism,which is the sub ject of my improvements, and which may be described asfollows:

A hand-lever, B, is pivoted in a step, so as to swing to and fro in the direction of the signal, and twopulleys, 8 s, are pivoted in a slot (or to one side) in the lever B, so as to turn freely on their pins. A curved bar, a, attached at one end to a standard, extends up from the planking to which the step g is fast ened. This bar a passes through the slot above the pulleys in the lever B, and has a beveled projection, 0, made on its lower edge. Asliding brake, (Z, is attached to the side of the lever B, so as to slide down and press on the periphery of the pulley s when required, and an open spiral spring, 0, is placed on the upper end of the brake to hold it up from the pulleys when the lever is not in use. The signal-line '6 from the signal, before described, passes between the pulleys s s and out over a pulley, P, held on a standard attached to the base-plank. A weight, 1), is attached to the end of the line 25 of suflicicnt size to keep the line taut without operating the signal.

In Fig. 2 the brake mechanism, as above described, is intended to work automaticallythat is, when the lever B is moved over in the direction of the arrow the brake d will be forced down on the pulley s by the beveled projection 0; but in Fig. 1 a rod, 12, is attached to the brake and carried up to a knee-lever, r, pivoted to the upper end of the lever B, so that the hand shall operate the lever r in grasping the handle of the lever B and throw down the brake d.

The operation is as follows: The arm 0 is held up in a horizontal position,when the signal is at rcst,by the weight on the lever c, and the line it is held at a uniform tension by the weight 1), as the pulleys s s are free to turn with the line and allow all slack to be taken up. To more the signal, the lever B is pulled overin the direction of the arrow, the brake (I being pushed down by the hand on thelcver r, as in Fig. 1, or by the projection c in Fig. 2, (both of which ways may be combined in one,) so as-to prevent the pulleys .ss from turning, and oblige them, as the lever is moved, to draw on the line i, which is gripped between them, and pull down on the lever c, throwing up, by means of the rod 10, the short end of the signal-bar G, and causing the bar to drop into line with the standard A, in which position it will be held until the lever B is brought back to its first position. The pulleys s 8 may be provided with suitable teeth to hold on a chain or made with suitable surfaces to hold a rod or line. From this it may be readily seen that as the line t is held by the weight 1; at a uniform tension it will always be gripped at the same distance from the signal, and the signal-bar will be operated to thesame extent by the same motion of the lever B,

whatever the expansion or contraction of the The arm a, having the projection c, in com 10 line i may be. r y bination with the lever B, pulleys s s, sliding The pulleys 8 s are mainly used to reduce brake (1, line t, and weight 12, substantially as the friction in taking up the slack of the line; set forth, and for the purpose specified. 5 but the apparatus may be used. without them by causing the brake d to press the line t JOHN BAKER against the bottom of the slot. Witnesses: v

Having thus described my improvements, FRANKLIN SOHWAB, what I claim as my invention is- HARRY HOWARD. 

